Embankment.



E.P.STRATTON. BMBANKMENT.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 18, 1912.

1,026,616. I PatentedMay14, 1912.

ATTO RNEYS ELIPI-IALE'I PLATT STRATTON, OF COLLEGE POINT, NEW YORK.

EMBANKMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 18, 1912.

Patented May 14, 1912. Serial No. 671,832.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELIIHALET PLATT STRATTON, a citizen of the United States of America, and residing at College Point, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Embankments, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to so construct a soil embankment for canals, railways and other places as to completely prevent land slides and wash-outs due to rains and the like. This object I attain by the construction hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a vertical cross-section of an embankment alongside a canal or river and constructed according to my invention; Fig. 2 is a view drawn to a larger scale, and looking at the face of the embankment, the right hand half being in section; Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views of forms'of metallic spiles which may be used; Fig, 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a form of pipe elbow which may be employed.

In regions subject to excessive rains at seasons, great difficulty has been found in maintaining the integrity of embankments for canals, railways, &c., because the rains not merely cause erosion of the embankment, but are liable to cause landslides, which are dangerous as: well as troublesome.

v These landslides are due to the fact that the soil becomes thoroughly saturated with water to a certain depth below the surface, dependent upon the amount of rainfall, and this water-laden soil tends to slough off. To prevent such landslides, I provide the following means: I drive into the face of the embankment A, Fig. 1, a series of spiles B, B, at suitable distances apart, say 15 feet, and preferably in staggered arrangement, as illustrated for example in Fig. 2. Two or three feet of each spile is allowed 'to stand above the surface of the soil, and I connect the top of the several spiles together into a net work by means of loops or bridles G of wire or the like, a separate bridle being used for every pair of adjacent spiles, so that if it ever becomes desirable or necessary, the whole series may be braced up by passing bars through these bridles and twisting the bridles by turning the bars over, like a Spanish Windlass. At the top of the embankment guy wires D anchored to posts some feet or more back from the slope may be used, as an aid in the prevention of local sloughing, which is preliminary to the general sloughing, commonly termed a landslide. The spiles B themselves may be of wood, Figs. 1 and 2, or of metal, if preferred. In the latter case a channel, such as shown in Fig. 3, or a half rail section such as seen in Fig. 4, may be employed. In combination with this network of bridled spiles, I provide a series of sub-surface drain conduit pipes P, a few feet below the surface and running obliquely down to the canal or river or drainage duct at the foot of the embankment. As shown at the right hand side of Fig. 2, these pipes are supported in place by having their ends fitted loosely into or onto fourway elbow joints B, spigot and faucet fashion, (Fig. 5), these elbow pieces being supported by the spiles B, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. These pipes being at angles (about 45 degrees in the case shown) to the natural flow of the water, will facilitate the catching of the seepage water at the pipe joints to drain it off, and at the same time the oblique arrangement of the pipes will mechanically support the soil and prevent any tendency to erosion or sloughing.

I claim as my invention:

1. A soil embankment protection, comprising a series of spiles driven into the face of the embankment and united into a network by connecting wires above the surface.

2. A soil embankment protection, comprising a series of spiles driven into the face of the embankment-and connected together, in combination with oblique drainage conduits,

3. A soil embankment protection, comprising a series of spiles driven into the face of the embankment and connected together, In testimony whereof I have signed my in combination with drainage conduits supname to this specification, in the presence of 10 ported by the spiles. two subscribing Witnesses.

4. A soil embankment protection, comprising a series of spiles driven into the face of the embankment and connected to each WVitnesses: other, in combination with oblique drainage VVALTER ABBE, conduits supported by the spiles. TJ. H. GRo'rE.

E. PLATT STRATTON.

Gouies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

